Special issue, September 2011
Beliefs about Second Language Acquisition Revisited
This is the first announcement of a Special Issue of System which is planned for
September 2011. It will be on the subject of Beliefs about Second Language
Acquisition, as a follow up to the Special Issue on this topic published by this journal
in 1999 as well as on the developments in this area since then. The Guest Editors will
be Ana Maria Ferreira Barcleos, Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil & Paula
Kalaja, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
A decade ago a special issue of System brought learner beliefs about language to the
attention of SLA researchers. Since then a lot has happened in SLA and in Applied
Linguistics, bringing changes to how we understand beliefs and their role in language
learning and teaching. We believe it is time to review the changes and bring new
understandings of this concept to the fore. Thus, to celebrate more than a decade of
research on learner beliefs we propose this volume with key articles
In the first instance, intending authors are requested to submit proposals of 300-500
words to the Guest Editors. The deadline for submissions is September 1st, 2010.
The proposed papers should focus on beliefs about second language acquisition or
teaching held by students or teachers, or other agents in the field of language
education (e.g., parents, school authorities). The papers should have a sound
theoretical basis and should rely on interpretative, qualitative, sociocultural or
contextual approaches to the investigation of this concept. Given the goals of the
journal, empirical studies, review articles and state-of-the-art articles are all welcome
on any of the following areas:
The relationship between beliefs and actions
The nature of beliefs
Methodological issues in doing research on beliefs
Challenges involved in doing research on beliefs
The application of findings concerning beliefs in the classroom
Benefits and limitations of research on beliefs (within any approach)
Ethical issues in investigating beliefs and belief attribution to participants
The relationship between beliefs and other variables in language learning such as
motivation, styles, strategies, identities and affective variables
The relationship between students’ and teachers’ beliefs
Theoretical frameworks used in doing research on beliefs
Proposals, which should not have been submitted elsewhere, should be sent as e-mail
attachment to Ana Barcelos, anamfb@ufv.br and Paula Kalaja, paula.kalaja@jyu.fi
and include the author’s name and e-mail details. Out of the proposals, a number will
be chosen by anonymous review by a panel of specialists; note that selection at this
stage does not guarantee publication. Authors will be notified by Oct 1st, 2010, of the
outcome of the review; and the deadline for the submission of full papers will be
February 1st, 2011. Papers should confirm to the usual word length of 5000 words,
maximum, in the body of the paper and to the house style of the journal (see Author’s
instructions on the website at: www.elsevier.com/locate/system). A final selection
will be made by the panel by April 1st, 2011; and versions incorporating any
proposed revisions will need to be submitted by June 1st, 2011.
All enquiries about the Special Issue should be directed to Ana Barcelos and Paula
Kalaja at the e-mail addresses above.
Tags: autonomy, beliefs, call for papers